Ask Baseball America By James Bailey
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June 15, 2000I've seen a few questions this week about draft signings and when we're going to have those. The answer is, soon. Very soon. Like tomorrow. Some teams have already signed 20-25 picks, while others have barely a dozen under contract. But the short-season leagues get underway tomorrow with the opening of the Pioneer League season and there should be some sense of urgency for most teams to get cracking on the signing front about now if they haven't already. Anyway, look for the first list of signings sometime tomorrow and we should update them every couple of weeks throughout the rest of the summer. Talk to me about Timoniel Perez. He is on a tear in Norfolk. What's his minor league background? What's his future? Josh Orenstein Phoenix, AZ The 23-year-old Perez played in the Japan Major League from 1996-99. He signed originally with the Hiroshima Carp and played in their academy in the Dominican Republic. His best season in Japan was in 1998, when he batted .296 with five homers and 35 RBIs in 230 at-bats. This winter he played for Licey in the Dominican League and though he didn't play much during the regular season, he was the regular center fielder on the Dominican squad in the Caribbean Series in February. The Mets signed the lefthanded-hitting Perez for something in the neighborhood of $300,000 in March and he got a late start on the season. After a short stop at Class A St. Lucie he was moved up to Triple-A Norfolk, where he is hitting .452 in 42 at-bats. Considering his experience level, it's not surprising to see him play well in the minor leagues. As for his future, Perez has been pegged as a fourth or fifth outfielder. He stands about 5-foot-8 and will make his way by playing the little man's game of speed and defense. Did Zeph Zinsman sign as a draft-and-follow with the Mariners and if he did, how much did he get? I didn't see him on your draft-and-follow signing list. Wally09@mediaone.net Zinsman, who was drafted by the Mariners in the 23rd round of last year's draft, did not sign with Seattle. They offered him $100,000, but he wanted substantially more than that, and after what hm did this spring at Mission (Calif.) JC, it's understandable that he felt he was worth more. He hit better than .500 with 18 homers in 165 at-bats and was named the junior college player of the year in Northern California. He also pitched for his team, with a fastball that reaches 90-91 mph. Of course, he wasn't drafted as a pitcher, but he does have arm strength and enough athleticism that he's not just a lumbering first baseman. Amazingly, Zinsman was not drafted this year, though he was regarded as a 5th- to 10th-round talent. He's!heading to the Jayhawk League this summer and unless he draws enough attention to become this year's version of Bobby Kielty (who went undrafted out of Mississippi in 1998 only to elicit multiple bids after starring in the Cape Cod League that summer), he'll go to Louisiana State. Mission coach Todd Eagen told me that Zinsman really didn't seem to mind not getting drafted and that he wants to play major college baseball for a year to show everyone what he can do and just experience Division I ball. I have been watching Bobby Bradley and Josh Hamilton very closely this year. Both players have looked amazing through most of the first half of the season. Even though Hamilton hasn't hit for much power, do you believe it will explode in the second half of the season? Also when and where do you think Bradley and Hamilton will get promoted? Because I don't see much use for them to stick around in low A-ball and waste their time and my patience. Rory One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing an organization move a player along too fast, which in my opinion ultimately retards his growth. Another is hearing fans clamor for such promotions. There have been so many cases where a player gets rushed through the minor leagues and flops out of the big leagues two years later—when he should just have been arriving in the first place. The player who is so accomplished that he has nothing to gain by a full season at low Class A at age 19 is truly rare indeed. In fact, I'd argue he doesn't exist. Hamilton is an exceptional talent and there's not much he doesn't do well, but I'm sure he'd tell you himself that he doesn't much care for his 12-to-51 walk-to-strikeout ratio this season. He is definitely capable of hitting for more power as well, and will likely do so in the second half. And Bradley looks dominant when he's twirling his curveball past inexperienced South Atlantic League hitters, but he had his most frustrating outing of the season (and his last before getting sidelined by what the Pirates hope is minor arm soreness) a week and a half ago when the Pirates told him to mix more fastballs in and cut back on his breaking stuff. I had the pleasure of attending that game—a duel between Bradley and Asheville's Chin-hui Tsao—and I can tell you Bradley's curveball is exceptional. But he really did have trouble spotting his fastball and he struggled at times in that game. I'm not saying that Hamilton and Bradley would be adversely affected by a jump to high Class A at the midseason break (next week). In fact, they've earned the opportunity to move up to the next challenge. But it's ludicrous to say that they are "wasting their time" in the South Atlantic League. And I hope you were kidding about your patience, because that's really the least of anyone's concern. What's the rush? Did you draft them onto your fantasy league team? The average player takes 4-5 years to get to the big leagues from Rookie ball, and the majority of big leaguers take 2-3 years to establish their level of performance. So seven years from now you can enjoy your minor league superstar as he leads your squad to the championship. Assuming that he makes it and your league is still together. I'm not sure which of those has the longer odds. I have a question about the status of a couple of Oakland A's prospects that I'm hoping that you can answer. What has happened to Kevin Miller, who was the A's third-round draft pick in 1998? In addition, another 1998 draft pick, Donato Calandriello, has not appeared in any box scores this year. Regards, Marc
Calandriello hasn't pitched this season because of a shoulder injury. He's not expected back any time real soon. It's a shame, because Tefertiller says the lefthander was throwing well in spring training before going down. I saw your column and am wondering if you can help me on this baseball rules question. The people I have asked are split on their opinions on this one, and I need to find out what the real answer is: Runners on second and third, one out. Batter hits a fly ball to right field. Runner at third tags up, but the runner at second does not tag up. Right fielder makes the catch and throws the ball in. After the runner on third has tagged up and safely crossed home plate, the ball is thrown to the second baseman who tags second base. The runner on second is ruled out for not tagging up, this is the third out of the inning. Does the run count? Thanks for your reply, Bill Cole Milwaukee, WI
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